The poetry of Nizam Al-Din Mahmud Da‘i Shirazi, often called Shāh Dā‘ī is due more attention, as the translation of his "Tale of the Fish" demonstrates. A biography of the poet is followed in the article by some illumination of his thought, which closely follows that of Ibn ‘Arabi, and some commentary of the mystical poem "Tale of the Fish". The poem reveals the poet's beauty of language, even in translation, as well as a facility with using allegory to bring life to profound metaphysical truths.

Author and musician Marco Pallis shares his insights into why certain music, and particularly contrapuntal music, "provides an image of the Universe at the level of 'the Lesser Mysteries'; when practiced with this truth in mind, it will serve as a support of contemplation and the joy it incidentally evokes will be seen as a reflection of the Divine Bliss."

This poem, translated from Arabic to English, from the great Algerian freedom-fighter and Sufi, the Amir ‘Abd al-Qadir, is not overtly spiritual, but is a good example of traditional Arab and Muslim poetry showing reverence for the virile life of the nomad and his closeness to and intense awareness of the beauty and power of nature.

Despite the widely held belief that music is forbidden in Islam, further investigation of Islamic culture will reveal numerous historical examples of music used as a means of spiritual practice. This article seeks to clarify what forms of music are permitted in Islam and to illuminate the effects of music on the human soul. As shown here, music has the potential to be either an aid or a hindrance to one’s spiritual growth – the determining factors are the condition of man in relation to his passions and his awareness of his primordial nature.

Much of the quality of a civilization can be inferred by its daily apparel. In this discussion of traditional Indonesian textiles, Hobson and Abdurachman focus on two methods of decoration: Ikat weaving and Batik printing, explaining the cosmological symbolism of the methods themselves as well as common design motifs.

In this two-part essay, A.K. Coomaraswamy sets out to prove "that our use of the term 'aesthetic' forbids us also to speak of art as pertaining to the 'higher things of life' or the immortal part of us; that the distinction of 'fine' from 'applied' art, and corresponding manufacture of art in studios and artless industry in factories, takes it for granted that neither the artist nor the artisan shall be a whole man.…" Using primarily Platonic and Hindu sources, he shows quite convincingly that modern arts education and production may result in an endless variety of arts for leisure, but that this situation encourages neither the understanding of traditional art, nor the production of arts that are "effective" in ennobling people with those "higher things of life."

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy explores the innocent-sounding question "Why exhibit works of art?" Beyond the task of protecting valuable relics, exhibiting works of art must have an educational purpose. In delving into the significance of this purpose, Coomaraswamy covers topics such as the vanity of much of modern art, the necessity of understanding the techniques and uses of ancient art (going beyond the limitations of our own modern psychology and aesthetics), the Platonic view of the arts, and more. This well structured discussion is an excellent primer on the Traditionalist/Perennialist view on the meaning of "art" and its proper usages in real, everyday lives outside of the confines of a museum.

This essay traces the gradual spiritual decline of Western music from the sacred monophony of Christian Gregorian Chant, through the increasingly secular polyphonic music of the Middle Ages, to later Renaissance, Operatic, and Romantic styles. Godwin shows that the evermore ornamented styles of Western music are a departure from the ancient and original function of music, which symbolized, beyond the capacity of language, the presence of God in the world. With the discovery of polyphonic sound, for instance, Godwin claims that Western culture began to delight in human creativity, forgetting the deeper meaning and function of music and turning it into “a kind of substitute for religion or mysticism”.

Using the Arabic language as the tool for his case study, Burckhardt explores its influence on Islamic art and spirituality. The nomadic life of the Arabs contributed to the consistency of the Arab language because it is when a culture settles into one place that its language becomes attached to things and institutions and therefore finds its decay. He describes Arab linguistically as having an “auditive intuition”. It is based in active association, instead of static imagery. This relates to Islamic art as it is manifested by images and calligraphy that evoke rhythm and movement and stories that are formed from logic and rhetoric instead of the sedentary nature of a statue or a painting of a different culture and language. All of these things contribute to illustrating the spiritual nature of Islam in its incantations and litanies and Burckhardt uses these observations to draw conclusions regarding the theology and practice of the Islamic faith.

In this article, Burkhardt explains that Islamic artwork strives to represent two important aspects: (1) to preserve the “primordial dignity of man,” and (2) to visually remind people of Islam’s fundamental denial of idols and idolatry. The artwork serves to reinforce the idea that there should be nothing between man and the invisible presence of God.

A short introductory note by the Editor describes this article as one whose interest is to “illustrates a normal characteristic of all traditional civilizations, namely the dependence of their arts (and sciences) on the religious principle.” “Sacred music was for the Tibetans an essential part of their spiritual endeavour,” the paper goes on to explain, giving a history of Tibetan spirituality and music and their intertwined nature.

Gai Eaton reviews Sacred Art in East and West: Its Principles and Methods by Titus Burckhardt, a book he calls “a study of what real art has been in the past and of what it still is in those few regions of the world that have not yet been completely overrun by modernism.” The book focuses on the sacred art of Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Taoism.

The subject of Islamic art in various forms is the central topic of this article and the reader is given an in-depth analysis of the symbolism and meaning of this traditional art. The author’s goal is to approach the topic of this article without using the historical evidence of influence from other cultures as much as the historical background of how Islamic art reflects the original goals of that religion. Burckhardt also points out some of the problems of the approach that modern science takes towards Islamic art. The author also provides some intriguing comparisons between Islamic and Christian art and how the differences in form symbolically reflect differences in religious doctrine. Some of the specific subjects analyzed in this way include icons, or lack thereof, the architecture of mosques and basilicas, structural ornamentation and inscriptions within sacred structures.

Marco Pallis was one of the best informed Europeans on all aspects of traditional Tibetan life, and one of the most authoritative on its spiritual center, and thus its related expansion into the arts. This brief survey of a variety of traditional Tibetan arts proceeds from the perspective that the light of the Buddha's Doctrine reveals itself through the particular symbolism of the traditional arts. Pallis surveys Tibetan architecture, painting, the plastic arts (such as the art of modeling images of Buddhas and Saints, along with metal casting), woodwork, metalwork and weaving (including rug-making). His brief survey nonetheless gives fascinating insights that illustrate the basic point: "The supreme work of art, in Buddhist eyes, is Enlightenment itself; the human art of living, with all its component arts, is as a bow bent to speed an arrow to that target."